Canadian 1st Infantry Brigade in France: 13-18 June 1940

After the defeat and evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force, the German army launched a
second offensive against the remainder of the French army south of the Seine and Marne rivers on 5
June. The British War Cabinet organized a second expeditionary force under the command of General
Sir Alan Brooke. This force included the 1st Canadian Division commanded by Major-General Andrew
McNaughton.

The first wave, or, to use the military term, advance guard, of the 1st Canadian Division, 1st Canadian
Infantry Brigade, arrived at the French port of Brest on 13 June. The following day, the battalions of the
1st Canadian Infantry Brigade moved by rail toward Le Mans. The German army entered Paris on 17
June 1940, and the French government requested an armistice. As a result, the second British
Expeditionary Force including the Canadian 1st Infantry Brigade immediately withdrew and, by 18 June,
had boarded troopships in Brest and St. Malo and returned to Britain. Fortunately, the rest of 1 Canadian
Division had never left England. The Canadian Brigade was forced to abandon most of its vehicles, but it
was able to save all of its artillery.